The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) and PJM Interconnection (PJM) have announced they filed for approval of an Agreement to implement New Jersey’s groundbreaking offshore wind transmission grid solicitation from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
The Agreement, known as the State Agreement Approach (SAA), provides a pathway for New Jersey to advance the first-of-its-kind offshore wind transmission solution as New Jersey implements its initiative to reach Governor Murphy’s goal of 7,500 MW of offshore wind energy by 2035.
PJM and NJBPU have already asked developers to propose the optimal mix of onshore and offshore transmission facilities that provide the most economically efficient and reliable way of delivering power from offshore wind turbines to New Jersey customers. Once accepted by FERC, the Agreement filed today will allow the NJBPU to select one or more of 80 different proposals submitted by developers. Each proposal includes ready-to-build offshore wind transmission solutions to deliver offshore wind energy to the existing power grid. Developers were asked to propose one or more of the following:
- upgrades to the existing grid to facilitate the offshore wind energy injections;
- extension of the onshore transmission grid closer to offshore wind locations;
- optimal landfall approaches to reduce environmental impacts, and any necessary offshore substations; and
- interconnections between offshore substations, sometimes called a transmission “backbone,” to provide benefits of a networked offshore grid.
NJBPU and PJM are currently reviewing the offshore wind transmission applications filed, with a determination expected later in 2022 on which applications, if any, will be approved.
